In many myth’s the gods seem to be able to everything, and nothing can stop them. As figures who are personifications of things humans cannot understand, they are powerful beings, but even they may have times of struggle. As some stories tell, the gods themselves had weaknesses, and things that they could not achieve. The gods do have human traits or tendencies that often lead to them being unable to do things. Sometimes it was the fact that they are gods that they could not do things. Even the gods can face their own share of hardships.
One of the main advantages some of the gods possess is the ability to reproduce by themselves. The eldest of the gods, Gaia, Abyss, Night, Eris, and even two male gods, Pontos, and Ouranos. Each of these god(s) and goddess(es) had no partner for some of their offspring’s production. In the Thegony Gaia had Ouranos, the mountains, and Sea (91), and Abyss gave birth to Erebos, and Night. Night then in turn had blame, grief, the hesperides, the tree beyond ocean, the destinies, fate, along with nemisis, deception, friendship, old age, and Eris. (93) Eris gave birth too many children all named for evil or bad deeds that man has come to do or associate with. Those children being named toil, famine, forgetfulness, recklessness, pains, battles, fights, murders, manslaughters, quarrels, words disputatious, lying words, and lawlessness. The last child of Eris is Oath, which could be a way to try and balance out to bad with some good. From the old male gods, Ouranos's severed genitalia gave form to Aphrodite and Pontos, the sea, gave form to Nereus. (93)
While the eldest gods could produce children on their own, only a one of the later gods possessed that ability. Hera had Hephaestus (104) all ...
... middle of paper ...
... in many chains made of many unbreakable bonds that he had placed all around his home. (205) Even Hermes admitted that the chains were unbreakable. (207)
Even if they had their strength fail them, it was also there in other times where they needed it.
Works Cited
Harris, Stephen L., and Gloria Platzner. "Homeric Hymn to Demeter." Classical Mythology: Images and Insights. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. 156-67. Print.
Harris, Stephen L., and Gloria Platzner. "Homeric Hymn to Hermes." Classical Mythology: Images and Insights. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. 209-23. Print.
Harris, Stephen L., and Gloria Platzner. "The Loves of Ares and Aphrodite." Classical Mythology: Images and Insights. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. 205-08. Print.
Harris, Stephen L., and Gloria Platzner. "Theogony." Classical Mythology: Images and Insights. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. 88-105. Print.
Rengakos, Antonios. Homertext und die Hellenistichen Dichter. Hermes. Einzelschriften, Heft 64. Stuttgart, F. Steiner, 1993.
As one of the most well known ancient Roman love poets, Ovid has demonstrated bountiful talents within his writing. When reading myths from his book titled Metamorphoses, you gain an enlightening insight of how he viewed mythology. To Ovid, love was the origin of everything. Therefore, it should not come as a surprise that most of his poems relate to the theme of love. However, not all poets are the same and every re-telling of a myth has its own unique perspective. In this paper I will compare and contrast the myth of Medea in Euripides Medea and Ovid’s Metamorphoses Book 7. I will then explain how Ovid’s approach to love and loss correlate to his general approach to myth as a whole. I will support my belief with evidence from Ovid’s Metamorphoses Book 14.
Homer. “The Odyssey”. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Ed. Martin Puncher. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012. 475. Print.
Harris, Stephen L., and Gloria Platzner. Classical Mythology: Images and Insights. 2nd ed. Mountain View: Mayfield, 1995
The depiction of the Greek and roman myths are given unique insights from different authors. The Hymn to Demeter and Ovid's Metamorphosis provide and insight to Demeter's love for her daughter, Persephone, and explores its affect on the surrounding environments. The theme of separation and isolation is present in both of these myths, however, in Ovid's Metamorphosis, he symbolizes the environment in important events, has characters playing different roles, and empowers female deities.
Grant, Michael, and John Hazel. "Athena." Gods and Mortals in Classical Mythology. Springfield, MA: G. & C. Merriam, 1973. Print.
The myths which prove the contradictory behavior of the gods, acting as both benefactors and tormentors of man, can readily be explained when viewed in light of the prime directive for man, to worship the gods and not “overstep,” and the ensuing “Deus ex Mahina” which served to coerce man to fulfill his destiny as evidenced by the myths: “Pandora,” “Arachne, and “Odysseus.” Humankind and it’s range of vision over the gods beauty and power portrayed them to be benefactors but unseemingly it depicted their affliction towards humans.
Morford, Mark P.O., and Robert J. Lenardon. Classical Mythology. '7th ed'. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Rosenberg, Donna. "The Creation of the Titans and the Gods." World Mythology. 3rd ed. Chicago: NTC/Contemporary Publishing Group, Inc., 1999. 82-89. Print.
Homer, The Odyssey, The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces, ed. Maynard Mack, Expanded Edition, (New York: W. W. Norton, 1995), pp. 219-503.
Morford Mark, Lenardon Robert, and Sham Michael. Classical Mythology, International Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, USA, 2011. Print. 830 pages.
Homer. ?The Odyssey,? World Masterpieces: Expanded Edition. Maynard Mack ed. Ed. Coptic St.: Prentice, 1995.
To begin with, the ancient Greeks explained the creation of the universe, in particular the Earth and its elements, by a system of anthropomorphism in which their gods are human-like and are representatives of these elements. For example, Zeus is the god of heaven while Hades is the underworld lord (Hesiod, p.145). Unlike the Christians’ god who is “flawless”, the ancient Greeks’ divinities are portrayed as humans and are far from perfect. Their gods behave like ordinary people except they are immortal and have supernatural powers. Like any human being, the Greeks’ gods have love, jealousy, sadness, etc. For instance, in Euripides’ Bacchae, Zeus falls in love with Semele, which makes Hera becomes jealous and tries to kill Semele and Dionysus (Euripides, p.209). The Greeks even have a physically imperfect god, Hephaestus. This is to say that the gods’ attitude toward mortals is affected by how people treat them as the Greeks’ gods have emotions like humans.
These Gods were Gaea, the earth Goddess, and Uranus the sky God. These Gods had 12 children and these 12 children became the titans. After the titans were born Uranus feared that his children would over throw him so he tried to banish them to the underworld, but the plan failed and the titans with the help of their mother overthrew their father and ruled over the earth. After a while the titan king Kronos had five children, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Demeter and Hestia, and just like his father Kronos feared his children would overthrow him so after his children were born he ate them. Now Kronos’s wife was a little annoyed that her husband was eating all of her children so when their sixth child was born she hid him. This babies name was Zeus, and after he grew up he snuck up on his father and cut open his father’s stomach letting his siblings free. Zeus and his siblings then killed all the titans and started their reign over the Earth. After the war Zeus created mankind, and had children of his own, creating the many major and minor Greek Gods we know
C.Storey, Ian and Allen, Arlene, A guide to Ancient Greek Drama. USA: Blackwell publishing, 2005. Print